Gunner and Mayday decided they dislike each other and while I can do the crate and rotate thing here at my parents, once we get back to NC I’d much rather just transition them into outside dogs.

The dog run would pretty much be two kennels side by side on the side of the house. We plan on using a mixture of kennel decking and pea gravel. I hate concrete. It’ll be fully enclosed on the top and pavers into the ground on the sides to keep them from digging out. Plus a partition on the connecting wall.

Since it’s on a side of the house, we’re limited in size as well as budget. It also can’t be permanent since we could get orders to move at any time plus once hubby’s contract is up – we’re moving anyways.

My mom suggested each have a five by fifteen foot run but I just think five feet will not be wide enough. I wanted to do a fifteen by fifteen foot square then divide that in half.

The dogs will be spending anywhere from 8 hours to all day in their kennels. They’ll be getting two walks a day equaling about two hours. If it’s too hot or humid, they’ll come inside. They’ll also be rotated to a chain setup in the middle of the yard if/when we’re outside. They’ll also come in at night after dinner and their walkies. They’ll be crated inside for bed time.

We could crate and rotate but I hate crates for long periods of time besides bedtime. And while our yard is fenced, it doesn’t keep the dogs in. (Gunner goes under & Mater can go over) so creating a dog run seems like the perfect solution.

So what’s an adequate size? Both dogs are about 60lbs. Who makes good solid kennels at an affordable price? I like Tractor Supply’s Doc Bob for the price, and it looks solid enough. What kind of toys would you suggest in the kennels with them?

All I can add is that the fencing between them needs to be carefully decided on. When my Labradork goes to the kennel (professional one) he does a lot of "fence fighting" and his nose often comes back with cuts on it, from the fencing (not the neighboring dog).

Do NOT get chain link. Literally almost every tooth in the front of Riggs' mouth is broken off because of chewing on his chain link kennel. And as Joyce said, think very carefully about the separating wall. Fence fighting can cause some serious injuries.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

I had asked a friend about this, as she has kennel runs for all of her dogs. She told me that if she has a dog that is spending any length of time in a kennel that 10'x10' is the smallest that she would go, but that even that in her opinion it is far too small. After speaking with her I began to look into doing 10'x20' runs.

I like the set ups that one of my other friends has for his bulldogs. Very large runs (most bigger than 10'x20') with raised dog houses and ramps that lead into the dog houses. They also have different levels and footing in there (some pea gravel, and some the boulders that were naturally in the area). He always keeps a kong in with his dogs. But I think that the different levels in the runs, and the different areas of footing, keep his dogs from getting the typical bad habits that kenneled dogs can have. None of his dogs are big barkers, and frankly are generally quiet when you walk through his kennel. They also don't pace. I think that pacing tends to happen with dogs that are in thinner and longer runs because they don't have much space to do anything other than pace. Plus with the different heights/footing it keeps them from getting into fence running and other such bad habits.

I also like the Doc Bobs at Tractor Supply. One of my friends has one and it's a really nice kennel. I think you can also get privacy pannels for those as well, so that your dogs won't start fence fighting each other. I would definitely also suggest some sort of top/roofing so they can't go over. Of course I also suggest a pad locked privacy fence surrounding your yard so that looky-lou's don't know that you have dogs there that they can mess with. Plus that way your dogs can't see anything outside of the yard, so that way they can't load up on something, thus developing barrier aggression.

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." -Anatole France

We’re going to have a solid panel as the dividing fence. Since they tend to be aggressive towards each other anyways, we don’t want to take chances. I don’t think the Doc Bar fencing has the privacy panels but we can build our own no problem if they don’t.

Haha, no chain link for us. I, personally, feel it looks cheap. I hate it as our fence around the house and could never add more of it!

I’d love to do two ten by twenty runs! I wish I was home to measure the space. Our yard V’s outward since we’re at the end of a cul-de-sac and I can’t picture the side yard having more than 15’ of room at the top. Good to know that 10 x 10 is the least amount of space we should give them. I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to find any info about kennel sizes!

If money was no problem, I’d love to put up a good privacy fence! But since we won’t be living at this house longer than two more years, I just can’t spend that money. I’m not worried about people, most of our small community knows me from walking the dogs anyways.

Your friends kennels sound gorgeous. I wish we had the time and money to make ours just as nice.

I have a 5x10 Doc Bob kennel that I got at TSC that my youngest bulldog stays in. He likes it and I like it, so it works. I don't have any flooring or pea gravel in my kennel, it's just the ground. He's got a dogloo and a Galileo bone that I switch out with a Kong periodically.

I have two 10x10 runs coming in the next few weeks for the other dogs. These are six sided kennels and I am really excited to move all the dogs outside. My kennels will be spread out over the property.